48 TESTING
them. These ‘substitute’ odour recipes are of interest to the fast-moving consumer goods, perfumery and cosmetics sectors, where such a demand has already been noticed. For this to be possible, a deeper understanding of individual odour compounds is needed, in order to undertake a more integrative approach to fragrances made of complex mixtures of various volatile compounds. Yet, it should be noted that there are synergistic and antagonistic effects between concurrent odours and that the perception of individual compounds does not imply that their sum is equivalent to the overall perception of their mixture. For example, the chemical methional smells like potato and 1,5-octadien-3-one smells like geranium. But when smelled together, the resulting odour smells fishy. At Olfasense, we want to consolidate
our services based on the manufacture of tailor-made synthetic chemical mixtures that mimic complex odours and fragrances. Reference odours can be used to train sensory panellists in the evaluation of odour characters, for example to characterise a soap as having a jasmine scent, or perhaps a phenolic off-odour from the packaging. Such reference odours are often combined with an odour wheel. The assessors use this type of wheels to first describe an odour in broad terms, such as ‘floral’ before narrowing this down to ‘jasmine’. Some industries need to work with chemically defined formulations to perform odour tests that are reproducible and can be standardised. This is the case in the consumer goods sector, where there is a need to recreate odours that can simulate bodily fluids. Such reference odours are used for efficacy testing of deodorants and other personal hygiene products. This approach could also be extended to other sectors where there is a need to work with reference odours.
Figure 4: LiGaVa odour sampling equipment. In this respect, newly created odours
could be tested for the cosmetics sector using innovative devices that have already been developed by Olfasense, such as the Liquid to Gas Vaporizer device (LiGaVa) and the Scent Sampler. The first device converts liquid samples into gas to allow various types of analysis to sense the vapor phase properties of perfumes, fragrances and other odorous liquids in a standardised way: ■ Concentration, intensity and descriptive attributes of the odour, to establish how much substance is needed for a proper sensory impression. ■ Chemical profiling to find out which compounds are most relevant in terms of the substance’s overall odour contribution. ■ Other customised tests that require a reliable
comparison between samples (benchmarking, formulation, product optimisation, etc.). As for the Scent Sampler, this device
facilitates that odour samples are directly captured from human skin or other surfaces, such as fragrance strips. The main advantage of this device is that it allows the collection of samples in a standardised way in terms of temperature, humidity and air flow control, in order to obtain representative and reproducible results. This is a critical issue in the cosmetics field, where this type of data is regularly needed to test the efficacy and quality control of products. By using the Scent Sampler for perfumes applied to the human skin, it is possible to gain insight in the odour profile on different skin types. Whereas testing the perfume on skin instead of a fragrance strip is already a step in the direction of evaluating the consumer scenario, there are still some differences. Perfumes are worn in different contexts and for different purposes, and their sensory behaviour might change depending on different factors (e.g., presence of sweat and textiles). With the Scent Sampler, a perfume can be applied under laboratory conditions to participants that then resume their normal daily activity. At specific times after application, they return to the laboratory so that samples can be readily taken via the Scent Sampler and evaluated by trained assessors.
Figure 5: Scent Sampler for surface odour sampling (skin, scent strips, etc.) PERSONAL CARE November 2021
Conclusion The famous quote of the father of modern theory of management Peter Drucker, “you cannot manage what you cannot measure”, should also apply to the objective characterisation of odours. The fragrance- related industry relies on the continuous development and optimisation of new scents, made from synthetic molecules and/or natural extracts, which determine the success or failure of a wide range of consumer goods. While so important in driving consumers’ emotional preferences, fragrances still evade robust measures in terms of perception.
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